Evangeline sipped her champagne with a sigh. Titanos had fled into the night, off to complain to Maven, no doubt. Nuisances, both of them, the second prince and his faux revolutionary. Like she didn't see her mouthing Red as the Dawn when she thought they weren't looking. How Elara put up with her, she had no idea.
Mother chuckled. Her green gown was paler than a luna moth, nearly as white as hers. Her snakes had slithered onto the table, and Evangeline gave their heads a pet. They only hissed.
She frowned. "Are they hungry?"
"They didn't get a chance to eat the rat," Mother purred, pursing her lips. "And they haven't had dinner in weeks."
Evangeline shook her head. "Titanos is Silver."
"Yet she was raised in the sewer." A wrinkled nose. "I can still smell it on her."
There was no room for argument. She would sneak the snakes a meal when they got home, and leave Titanos to fend for herself. In the meantime . . .
Her eyes narrowed. Sonya had cozied up to Cal in the moments she left his side, no doubt planning to seduce the heartbroken fool. Mareena's rejection had left him ripe for the picking. She didn't need bastard children snatching her crown before it grazed her head.
The wine glass was firm in her hand, firmer still as she strode between them. A slide of her leg, a sudden stop, the jerk of liquid onto a nearby dress. Her voice was sweet as honey. "I'm so sorry, Sonya. Let me–"
Sonya's eyes grew cold. "No need for apologies. I was thinking of changing anyway." She beckoned to Cal. "Care to come with?"
He swallowed. "No need."
She huffed, hiking her skirts, red and blue lace on white silk. Evangeline frowned. First her mother, now Sonya. Her wedding was filled with wannabe brides.
Cal cleared his throat. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." She sniffed. "When's the coronation? I have too many crowns to let them rust unused."
He sighed. "Father promised to abdicate within the year."
Evangeline soured. "Is Titanos going to be crowned before I will?"
"Mare has a right to her crown as much as yours. Be patient." His hand settled on her shoulder. "No one will wrestle it away."
Easy for him to say. His crown was ensured from birth, a duty as opposed to a prize. He never had to fight off competition, the sneers and slights from behind her back. "Her name is Mareena."
A muscle twitched, and she didn't miss it.
The trouble came weeks later, a Lakeland victory and a solemn dinner. The king took off his medals for once, laying them on the table and kneeling his head. "These belong to our felled comrades tonight."
Cal, too, knelt his head. He, too, saw honor in failure.
Across from her, Titanos grit her teeth. "The Silvers, or the Reds?"
Evangeline tutted. "Now, now."
Cal turned towards her. "Both volunteered their lives. Both knew the risks."
"Did they?" Oh, this would be good. "We all know how conscription works, and how you Silvers bear the brunt."
Evangeline raised a brow. "You Silvers? Aren't you among us?"
She stiffened, eyes wide with terror. Elara hummed. "The transition is still quite rough. We will correct her language in time, don't worry."
Evangeline pouted. "You get all the fun."
Elara purred. "Her mind is quite the playground."
Titanos gripped her glass as though it might break. "All I said was–" She seemed to think better of it, casting her eyes down. Maven's fingers grazed hers, and Evangeline caught her smile. "This war doesn't go anywhere. I don't think military victories will make it end."
Cal raised his head, hesitant. "It's the only way we have, Mare."
Maven's fingers curled around hers. "I sincerely doubt that."
Evangeline didn't bother to touch her knife, letting it slice through her steak of its own accord. "What would you know of wars and battle? I seem to recall you crying for your mother at the front."
His eyes darkened. "I've watched enough men die to know my brother's grief means little to them."
"Enough." The king stood, bare of metals, but not sentries. "We are here to spread hope, not slander the crown prince."
Elara pursed her lips, but said nothing. Evangeline was tempted to grasp the king's surrendered jacket and lay it on herself, the metals pulsing with temptation. It began to slide.
Cal coughed. "If Mavey has an idea, let him tell it."
"Splendid." The look he cast him was oddly dark. "I suggest we make peace with the Lakelands."
Evangeline had no investment in the gasps that rang out, but it was a queen's duty to keep peace in her court. "We have tried, my liege, but I fear it is the Lakelands who cannot come to an agreement."
"What have you offered?" He didn't blink. "Do you mean to tell me you made concessions? Because I have searched our records for months, and found no evidence of such."
"Months?" She raised a brow. "It's a hundred years war."
"Obviously I focused on the past twenty years." Maven leaned on his palm. "The documents were strangely thin."
The king's jacket slid off the table. Evangeline made it hover. "Take it up with our diplomats."
Mareena tilted her head. "Aren't you in charge?"
Her knife screeched against her plate. "Not yet."
"Not you." She waved a hand. "El–Your Majesty." Her head bobbed, so unenthusiastic as to be insulting. "You have an opportunity. Your son is a genius, I'm sure he–"
"No need to hype me up." Maven took Mareena's hand and laid a kiss on the knuckles. "Though I do appreciate it, my darling."
It was always strange, seeing her blush. Like something was trying to peek through her makeup. "It's more than you, idiot." Oh, Elara was not going to be happy with her. "There are thousands conscripted every day for this war. Peace would be immeasurable."
"Of course."
Evangeline tapped her foot. "And you would do this . . . how?"
He hummed. "By having Cal marry a Lakeland princess."
Mother's voice flared in the back of her mind, scraping, grinding, clawing at any and all weakness she could find. "I suggest you find a new head for your neck."
Elara grit her teeth. "Sit down. Both of you."
Maven pursed his lips. "Would you really pick yourself over your country?"
"Why don't you marry her?"
He scoffed. "As if the Lakelands would accept a second prince."
"Isn't that convenient."
"Enough." A flame rose in the king's palm, and all went silent. "We are here to mourn, not bicker."
"Yes," Cal echoed. He glanced at Titanos, and she seemed to stiffen, edging toward Maven before thinking better of it. "We have a speech to give on the broadcast." He gestured towards her. "Mareena, if you will?"
She glared. "Don't 'Mareena' me."
Evangeline chuckled. "It's your name, is it not?"
A strange look exchanged between them all.
